EVENT NEWS EVENT NOTEBOOK POINTS AFTER EVENT ROUND-BY-ROUND RESULTS FINAL ROUND RESULTS			EVENT GALLERY

SUNDAY NOTEBOOK -

RICKIE JONES CAPTURES EMOTIONAL PS WIN - The drama for the Pro Stock world championship was eliminated before the final round of the Auto Club NHRA Finals.

Jeg Coughlin Jr. clinched the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock world title in round two of the Auto Club NHRA Finals when Jason Line lost to Buddy Perkinson.

None of that mattered to Rickie Jones, who was all smiles after winning his first NHRA career national event with a holeshot over Allen Johnson in the finals.

Jones clocked a 6.584-second run at 210.28 mph, while Johnson had a 6.581-second lap at 211.03 mph.

The difference was at the starting line as Jones had a .015 reaction time and Johnson was at .030 on the tree.

“It is so emotional,” Jones said. “You work for something for so long and you drive the truck across the country. You work on the cars, you build them and you get it all together as a team and you keep beating on it and finally it came. There have been so many times I have prayed this moment would happen. It is everything I wanted since I was like a 10-year-old kid racing juniors. It is more than I ever imagined. It means so much to me and my family and everyone who is involved. I can’t thank everyone enough for giving me the chance to race in NHRA.”

The Jones family owns the Quarter-Max chassis & racing components and RJ Race Cars, Inc., business in Galesburg, Ill.

“I never looked over to see if I was ahead or anything,” Jones said about his victorious run in the finals. “I just kept looking at the finish line wanting to get there. As soon as I pushed the clutch in and hit the chutes there was just a moment of pause, anticipation waiting for the win light to come or to not come, and it seemed like it took forever for the win light to come on. When it did, I just teared up and I could hardly see to make the turn off. It was just amazing. It is very special. I’m definitely looking forward to next year and I still don’t know exactly what we are doing. Hopefully this will help keep us out here.”

Richard Freeman supplied the engines for Jones through his Elite Performance company based in Wynnewood, Okla. Mark Stockseth was responsible for putting the deal together so Jones could drive for Freeman.

“I have to thank Elite Motorsports and Richard Freeman for giving me the opportunity to come out here and race,” Jones said. “Mark Stockseth is the one who got me back in the seat this year with Richard, so I owe that opportunity to him.”

This was Jones’ fourth career appearance in the final round and he is the 57th driver to win a race in the history of NHRA’s Pro Stock class. He also was the ninth different driver to win in 2013. Jones finished 11th in the points this season racing a limited schedule.

“We’ve been running at the front quite a bit of the season and we knew eventually if we just kept being consistent we could pull out one of these wins and we finally did,” Jones said. “This is awesome. I just have to thank everybody who has been involved with this. I can’t thank everyone enough. (Sunday) was just my day. I just want to thank God because He has really blessed my life, my family and my team. This definitely would not have happened without Him.”

HAGAN FINISHES SEASON WITH FC WIN - Ultimately, Matt Hagan wanted to win a 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Series nitro Funny Car world championship.

That wasn’t possible since legendary driver John Force clinched his 16th world title at the Las Vegas Nationals on Oct. 27.

Hagan did get a slight measure of satisfaction Sunday, however, beating Force in the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif.

Hagan clocked a 4.018-second elapsed time to edge Force’s 4.057-second lap.

“I just want to say thank you to all of our fans who have been supporting us all year long,” said Hagan, the 2011 nitro Funny Car world champ, who drives for Don Schumacher Racing. “I have only been out here five years and I’ve just been able to battle it out three out of the last five years in championship hunts. We wanted to finish strong for our guys. Honestly it is about winning the championship, and if we couldn’t pull down that No. 1 spot we wanted to pull down the No. 2 because it is extra bonus money for our guys.”

This was Hagan’s class-high fifth win of the season and 10th of his career. Hagan finished second in the points – 140 behind Force. Hagan also finished second in the points in 2010 and 2013.

Hagan won at Pomona with assistant crew chief Mike Knudsen calling the shots. Knudsen was filling in for Dickie Venables, who missed the race while recovering from a surgical procedure.

“I’m on Cloud Nine,” Hagan said. “Our assistant crew chief filled some big shoes. Dickie Venables was sick this weekend and Mike Knudsen has never tuned a race car before and he had to jump in. This guy just did a phenomenal job. It just shows you how smart people your organization puts around you are. It has been great. My guys have worked so hard and I’m so proud of them. I wish we could have won the championship, but that goes to John this year. I’m just going to come back and fight for it next year.”

With Venables on the sidelines, Hagan still had plenty of confidence.

“Dickie has done such a good job training these boys and he is a good leader,” Hagan said. “He takes the time to sit down and explain stuff to these guys.”

Although Hagan was the last remaining DSR Funny Car in Pomona on Sunday, that was the last thing on his mind.

“I think about turning the win light on up there and just wanting to kill the guy beside me on the tree,” Hagan said. “Just crush him and make him look like he didn’t even show up. That’s just my mentality up there. My season has been phenomenal; how can you be upset about five race wins? Don Schumacher loves our sport and he loves what we are doing out here. Without him I think our sport would suffer.”

WINNER LANGDON TASTES ICING ON TOP FUEL CAKE AT POMONA - Just when Shawn Langdon thought nothing could feel any more thrilling than his NHRA Top Fuel championship celebration Saturday at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, his hometown track, he found out he could, indeed, squeeze even more from this triumphant weekend.

Standing hard on the gas against wicked-tough veteran Doug Kalitta in a side-by-side showdown Sunday, Langdon completed the first "Pomona sweep" (winning the season-opening Winternationals and the finale) since 2004 at the Auto Club Finals. (Langdon actually had a "California sweep," capturing the Wally at the Sonoma race in the Bay Area, too.)

The common denominator of this day and that one a decade ago is Alan Johnson, Langdon's Al-Anabi Racing team manager. He's also the crew chief who dominated here in Southern California with Tony Schumacher and the U.S. Army Dragster. Johnson orchestrated the same in 2000 for Gary Scelzi.
 
Larry Dixon, an Alan Johnson alum who earned the most recent of his three series titles while at Al-Anabi,  put it in perspective in his public-address commentary. This weekend, he said, closed a run that was virtually "all Al-Anabi, all Alan Johnson, all day, all year."

Langdon extended his class-best victory total to seven in 10 final rounds this season and ended the year with a 54-17 elimination-round record, thanks as well to a tune-up from crew chief Brian Husen and assistant Nick Peters. Langdon did it with a 3.784-second elapsed time at 323.58 mph.

Kalitta challenged with a 3.808-second, 323.04-mph run in the Jim Oberhofer-tuned Mac Tools Dragster.

"This is the top of the cake," Langdon said following his eighth overall Top Fuel victory. "This is an absolute special weekend for everybody involved with Al-Anabi Racing. I know this is going to sink in in a couple of days, but right now I'm up on Cloud Nine.

"When you envision, as a kid wanting to become a professional drag racer, this is what I envisioned: sitting in the press room, winning Pomona, winning the championship and being part of a great team. When all your dreams come true and you're part of something special, you're almost at a loss for words," he said. 

Langdon said his family has plenty of "embarrassing stories" about the days he was an eager young boy, obsessed with his goal of becoming a drag racer for a living. Would he share any? "Not one," he said emphatically, laughing.

"It's amazing to watch how this Al-Anabi team works under pressure," Langdon said, pointing to Johnson's track record. He said the Al-Anabi mastermind "works his magic. And the crew was absolutely perfect."

Said Langdon, "I was a nervous wreck coming in. My confidence as the weekend went on got built up inside of me. My lights were getting better and better. The car was getting better and better, as well."

Kalitta wound up third in the standings, 165 behind Langdon and just a single point behind No. 2 Antron Brown. The Dallas winner was seeking his second Countdown victory and second of the year.

"That Kalitta camp, they have such a great team over there. They're an absolute class act," Langdon said. "We enjoy racing teams like that, because you know you’re going to get an honest race. They're going to bring their A Game, and we're going to give it everything we have. It produced a great final for all the great fans. We're just happy to race anybody, really."

Langdon finished the campaign by advancing to the semifinals or finals 16 times in the last 20 races and finishing 164 point ahead of Brown.

Team owner Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani, of Qatar, congratulated Langdon by a couple of text messages from Doha. "He said, 'Give me a call tomorrow when things slow down.' He's very proud." 

When Chad Head left the Al-Anabi team last year and went to work for his father in the construction business and later to begin his Funny Car career, Langdon took on an interim general manager role.

"I go to the shop every day. It's not to the extent Chad was doing. Chad was an extremely valuable asset to the team. I was able to pick up a couple of responsibilities at the shop to kind of help out -- just being a team player and trying to help out," he said. I just felt if I could take some responsibilities off of Alan and Ali [Lewis] at the office and a couple of crew guys and crew chiefs, then it takes a little stress off them. I'm just filling in for a couple of responsibilities at the shop."

Langdon said he's not worried about what that title is. The title of "Top Fuel Champion" is all that matters.

"That's the only title I'm caring about right now," he said.

PRO STOCK BIKE WINNER KRAWIEC AT HOME AT POMONA - It's not The House That Eddie Built, by any means.

John Force has won eight times at the historic Pomona, Calif., dragstrip known today as Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. Kenny Bernstein has six victories here -- and Bob Glidden, Greg Anderson, and John Myers five. Tony Schumacher, Warren Johnson, and bike great Dave Schultz have been to the winners circle four times in the season finale.

But after Eddie Krawiec's final-round Pro Stock Motorcycle victory Sunday over Scotty Pollacheck in the Auto Club NHRA Finals, he said, "I was very confident coming in. I've been fortunate enough that this racetrack has been . . . like . . . It's my house.

"That's the way I look at it when I get here: I'm in Pomona," Krawiec said. "I do the best that I can to not let anybody win here. It's six final rounds in the last six years here. I've won three.

"The really odd stat," the three-time series champion said, "is that I've won every year I've lost the championship. And every year that I've won the championship, I've lost the race. So I guess this is a good way to cap the season."

He did it with a 6.918-second, 192.41-mph pass against Pollacheck's 6.963, 193.57 aboard a Matt Smith Racing Buell.

This was Pollacheck's third runner-up performance this year. He reached the finals also at Houston and Norwalk, Ohio.

Krawiec's statement that "it was an awesome day for me" was probably an understatement.

He ended the season in third place, only 18 points out of second, with two victories -- far better than he had hoped to escape with after NHRA rules changes set the Vance & Hines Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson back in a major way.

"We had to redo the entire top half of the engine," Krawiec said, explaining that the once-dominating team's four-valve overhead-camshaft power plant would no longer be allowed in competition.

He said the adversity only galvanized the team.

"Looking back on the season, it was a great year for us. I think it brought us all closer together. When times are tough, that's when you really need to pull together and really support each other and have each other's back," he said. "There was a lot of midnight oil burned and a lot of late hours in our shop. We were sucking. And it made us drive harder. Looking back on that, I think it made us a better team."

As for the offseason, Krawiec said, "What we need to do is go hit the dyno and make horsepower. We got the bike working really well.

"When my crew chief, Matt Hines, gives me a bike like that, it's up to me. I have a great race bike. We may not have the fastest bike . . . But if the rider does his job, he can win races."

He tied Hines with this third victory at this race.

Krawiec said his job this weekend was to improve on his fifth-place status that he had found himself in after the previous race, at Las Vegas.

"I would have loved to finish the season in second, and I knew if I came here and won and if the cards rolled my way and Michael Ray went out second round, I could have possibly [gone on to do that]. Michael went onto the semis and we go to race each other and I got the win there.

"I'm coming out of here third," Krawiec said. "In the beginning of the season, if you had asked us, after we were running the way we were running towards the middle part of the year, it would have been a miracle to get both bikes in [the Countdown]. But we're fortunate enough that we got one. And I was able to get a No. 3 out of it."

New champion Matt Smith had a short day. He won against a red-lighting John Hall in the opening round, but officials disqualified Smith because his Viper Motorcycle Company / Matt Smith Racing bike was too light.

Smith said he traced his problem to a Saturday night motor swap. The one he used in qualifying incorporated the new cam chest, which is nine pounds heavier than the older version. The replacement motor for eliminations was an older, lighter one, and Smith said he didn't properly adjust the ballast.

So Auto Club Raceway at Pomona wasn't the House That Eddie Built this Sunday. But it was where he felts like he was king of the castle.

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK -

TOP FUEL

LANGDON SAVORS TOP FUEL TITLE AT HIS HOMETOWN TRACK - Wide-eyed Jr. Dragster racers look at Shawn Langdon like he's a superhero.

They stand in front of his Al-Anabi Racing pit, maybe with mouths slightly agape, maybe a bit shy to ask for his autograph, maybe blurting out only that they have his picture stuck up on their bedroom walls and that one day they want to race Top Fuel dragsters like he does.

He's quick to tell them, "I was just like you 15 years ago."

Remembering those days fondly -- tagging along with sportsman racer dad Chad Langdon, admiring the sport's legends from the spectator side of the rope line -- Shawn Langdon said Saturday at the Auto Club NHRA Nationals, "I didn't have anything much more than a dream, a dream to drive a Top Fuel car."

But as darkness set in at Pomona, Calif., not more than 30 miles from Mira Loma, where he grew up daydreaming about drag racing, Langdon had his most prized possession: the 2013 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Top Fuel championship.

"We got what we came here for: the championship," he said after mathematically eliminating closest competitor Antron Brown, the 2012 king of the class.

Langdon savored the words "Shawn Langdon, Top Fuel champion," and said, "I don't think anything would sound any better than that." Then, after a deep sigh to collect his thoughts, he said, "Man, what a journey. To do it out here at Pomona, I don’t think anything could have topped this."

He expressed his gratitude to his parents: "My dad, I was out here pushing his car around. He showed me the basics of drag racing. Between listening to my dad and sitting in the grandstands, I learned a lot of what I know today."

He also credited a gentleman named Jack Brown who put him in his Super Comp car and helped him win two national championships in that sportsman class. Also on his thank-you list were Forrest, Charlotte, and Morgan Lucas for giving him his first chance to drive a Top Fuel dragster -- after he and Jurupa Valley High School buddy Morgan Lucas joined him in flights of fuel-car fantasies during class.

And he heaped praise on Qatar Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani, his Al-Anabi Racing team owner, team manager Alan Johnson, crew chief Brian Husen and assistant Nick Peters, and partner Al-Anabi crew chiefs Jason McCulloch and Ronnie Thompson.

"They gave me an opportunity of a lifetime that I just couldn't pass up, and this is the result," Langdon said.

He said they never gave up on him during a bleaker-than-expected 2012 season together: "They followed Alan's lead, and Alan's record speaks for itself. You have a leader like Alan, and you follow him and you believe in him," the new champion said.

Langdon joins a star-studded list of Alan Johnson drivers to make their marks in the Top Fuel championship ranks: Gary Scelzi, Tony Schumacher, Larry Dixon, and Del Worsham.

"I've watched [them] hoist the trophy and I had that 'I wonder what that feels like' feeling. This is one of the proudest moments of my life," Langdon said.

He said when he thinks of the sports' greats, those names come to mind, along with those of Joe Amato and Kenny Bernstein and that even today he still regards himself as "a young kid on the other side of the fence" rather than the established veteran he is becoming.

For Langdon, the thrill of it includes being "part of a great team. When you race with the greatest team that's out here you have nothing but the highest confidence. The sky's the limit." He said knowing he has an experienced, championship-caliber crew preparing his car, he knows he doesn't have to assume all the pressure as a driver.

He said "I don't think there's even an argument" whether Johnson is the NHRA's greatest tuner ever.    

The difference between last year and this one, Langdon said, was "just having that little bit of a handle on the race car. We had a great race car last year."      

Even though Langdon continued to close in on the title and kept boxing out Brown in his last-ditch efforts, he said the realization he had won the series title actually didn't hit him right away. In true racer fashion, he said he analyzed his run and why his car smoked the tires and thought about how and why Brown was doing the same thing in the opposite lane.

He smoked the tires, but by the end of the evening he and his team were in the mood to smoke cigars.

But, Langdon said, "I didn't think about it until I turned off the track," describing his distraction as being in a "normal-procedure state of mind."

Langdon talked about the "blood, sweat, and tears that go into this sport." He might not have known a whole lot about such things when he was a grade-school kid hanging out at the dragstrip with his dad. But he knows it now. He has given his blood, sweat, and tears to the sport.

And Saturday, on the eve of the final race of the 2013 season, Shawn Langdon understood what that meant and what they bring. Finally, he is the champion.

TOP FUEL'S BERNSTEIN TAKES NO. 1 SPOT, REMINDS CLASS HE'S A FACTOR - Brandon Bernstein isn't a noisy, show-offish young man.

But the ProtectTheHarvest.com/MAVTV Dragster driver didn't allow himself Saturday to be lost in the Auto Club NHRA Finals celebration of Shawn Langdon's championship and outgoing champion Antron Brown's earnest effort to overtake the Al-Anabi driver.

He made sure that despite a season of disappointment and physical pain, he was going to have at least one last moment this year in the spotlight -- just like he did here at Pomona, Calif., last year when Brown and Tony Schumacher were jousting for the Top Fuel title.

Bernstein was not a Countdown factor this time last November, but he played a key role in the final tally, beating Schumacher in the final round to end a long winless drought. Likewise Saturday, he claimed a little satisfaction and maybe a little reassurance that this wasn't a throwaway season.

In the final round of qualifying, Bernstein recorded a 3.748-second elapsed time at 325.37 mph on the Auto Club Raceway 1,000-foot course to earn his first No. 1 qualifying position in 60 races, since June 2011 at Bristol, Tenn.

"The car totally hooked up," Bernstein said as he began to prepare to meet No. 16 qualifier Billy Torrence in the first round of eliminations Sunday. "It left the starting line with the front end up a little bit, but it stayed right straight down there. When runs feel like that, you know it's going to be a good one.

"When the finish line came so quickly I was like, 'Wow this is a great run,' “Bernstein said of the pass that gave him his career 15th No. 1 start. “It was incredible."

This fabled racetrack has been a favorable one for him.

"This is just one of those tracks," Bernstein said. "When you come to Pomona, it just feels right. It's one of those places that I love to come to race. It just has a good vibe for me. We don't have any pressure on us tomorrow. We can relax and get out there and win the race."

Considering he did that last year, his competition knows that's not an idle threat.

"My crew chief, Joe Barlam, and the guys have been working really hard trying to get our combination back," Bernstein said. "When the sun goes down here and it gets cooler, this track can take a lot of power. Joe loves to pour it to the track and see what happens."

Bernstein said back-to-back victories here would help salve the frustration of this season.

"If we win the race tomorrow, it's going to feel great," Bernstein said. "We've still got a job to do tomorrow. It's been a tough year. You mark it down as one of those seasons and try to move on as quickly as possible and concentrate on the next season."

With the strong possibility of getting to drive a new Morgan Lucas Racing chassis as early as January testing at West Palm Beach, Fla., Bernstein expressed excitement about the 2014 season.

But he has some unfinished business to tend to first -- and he'll approach it as first in the Top Fuel order.

BROWN'S TOP FUEL MOJO RETURNS, JUST A LITTLE TOO LATE - At the start of the NHRA's Countdown to the Championship, the two champions had a friendly chat.

Top Fuel's Antron Brown, feeling in a funk despite his top-five standing, commiserated with Funny Car's John Force. And the conversation, according to Force, went something like this:

Antron: Force, I lost my mojo.

Force: How'd you do that? I lost mine, too.

Antron: We can get it back, though. My kid took my mojo. My kid [Anson, in a Jr. Dragster] has won his last two races. I can't hit my tail.

Force: Sometimes your focus goes somewhere else. That's what I'm trying to get here now.

Force got his mojo back and has gone to the final round at the past four Countdown events and won the past three, clinching his record 16th Funny Car championship at the Toyota Nationals at Las Vegas.

Brown began the six-event playoff by failing to qualify the Don Schumacher Racing-owned Matco Tools Dragster at Charlotte and watching the lead he had established at Gainesville disappear and his efforts spiral to ninth place.

Then for a while, he rediscovered his magic, but his chance to repeat as Top Fuel champion still was possible, though less promising. His runner-up finish at Reading, Pa., was sandwiched between victories at St. Louis and Las Vegas.

He entered this Auto Club NHRA Finals 102 points behindShawn Langdon, the rival who had beaten him in the showdown at Reading. As they progressed through qualifying, Langdon kept one-upping Brown, leaving him with simply no more time to catch up and the realization that "it is what it is. We just wanted to be able to go to Pomona and be able to contend for the championship."

Following Friday qualifying at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Brown said of Langdon, "We're trying to keep up, but that little joker right there, he always just picks one out."

Langdon's home at Avon, Ind., is only a few miles from Brown's in Pittsboro. They're among the NHRA crowd there in suburban Indianapolis who gathers for friendly basketball games.

"[Antron's] kicked our butt enough on the basketball court, and now I finally have a chance to get him on the track," Langdon teased.

But on the track the passion was fierce. Brown knew he had to have a stellar performance and that Langdon pretty much had to fall off the face of the Earth. Neither happened.

"We know Langdon has a good points lead and he really has to mess up out there," Brown said before qualifying kicked off. "And we have to win the race and maybe set a record to catch him."

Both had to be thinking of 2006 and of Alan Johnson. And because of 2006 and Alan Johnson, both were full of hope.

Brown said he had studied Tony Schumacher while making the transition from the Pro Stock Motorcycle ranks, intently curious about what made Schumacher a multi-time Top Fuel champion. And Alan Johnson had not an exclusive but a significant stamp on Schumacher's success when he worked at DSR. And he saw Johnson tune Schumacher to "The Run" that gave him a 20-point national record and the title on literally the final blast of the season.

Langdon couldn't help but think of Alan Johnson. He's Langdon's boss at Al-Anabi Racing and the architect, along with crew chief Brian Husen, of this dream season for the big-dreamer "kid from down the road" in Mira Loma, Calif.

Alan Johnson might have inspired both, but he tunes Langdon. And an Alan Johnson in the hand is worth two in the memories.

It came down to this Saturday evening: Brown needed to clock the quickest run of the fourth and final session while Langdon blanked on bonus points. However, both smoked the tires in that last chance, and Brown was mathematically eliminated as Langdon earned the championship.

(Langdon, the No. 2 starter behind Brandon Bernstein, will take a 104-point lead into Sunday's eliminations. The most No. 5 qualifier Brown could earn is 100.)

"We both were going for it, you could tell," Brown said. "The track was great, and the car left really well. We were going for it, stepped on it, gave it our best shot, and we'll never hang our heads. We just work as hard as we can each and every day.

"And we have a race tomorrow, four more rounds of racing. We're looking forward to getting out there tomorrow because our car has run exceptionally well this weekend. It's run exceptionally well the three races before this one," he said.

"Our Matco / Toyota / U.S. Army team has worked hard, and no one was going to give up until it was impossible to catch him," Brown said, referring to crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald, assistant crew chief Brad Mason, and the rest of the crew."

Brown's fate Saturday marked the first time in three years that DSR has not won an NHRA championship. DSR racers Jack Beckman and Matt Hagan won the past two Funny Car crowns.

So as Langdon's 2013 performance reached a crescendo and Brown's faded into the background, Langdon said, "Antron was a great champion. And it was a battle through the last qualifying run."

Langdon spoke in past tense. Brown spoke of the future.

As Brown passed the mantle to Langdon, he knew Saturday he certainly has the chance to win that consolation prize. A victory Sunday would be a spectacular third victory in four consecutive final rounds in a six-race playoff that in other circumstances would have meant he dominated the class.

He said, "For the fourth straight race our team has been phenomenal, and we're going to finish out the year on a good note. That's going to be determinedby tomorrow's outcome. We just want to go out, have some fun, and win this race."

HOT STUFF - Todd Paton has the heat on high as he crosses the finish line during Saturday qualiyfing.

FUNNY CAR

FORCE CONTINUES TO SHINE WITH TITLE CLINCHED - John Force could have been on cruise control.

Instead, he decided to add another milestone in his record-breaking career.

Having already clinched his 16th world championship in Funny Car a race ago at Las Vegas, Force kept on pushing and made historySaturday in Pomona at the NHRA’s season-ending Auto Club NHRA Finals.

Force put together the first three-second Funny Car run in the history of Auto Club Raceway, taking the No. 1 qualifier spot with a pass of 3.995 at 319.37.

Force deflected all of the credit, again focusing on the late-season magic of Jimmy Prock.

“Jimmy Prock runs that car and right now they’re on a roll. Everything they do just works,” Force said. “I asked Jimmy what it would do on that last run and he just had a big old grin on his face.”

Force’s daughter, Courtney, and Matt Hagan both ran 4.01 during the final qualifying session, with Hagan running a 4.014 at a track-record speed of 320.20.

Force saw the run from Hagan and that’s when we went to Prock, who was confident his team could do something even better, which has become the norm throughout the Countdown to the Championship.

Force’s third straight victory led to clinching the championship in Las Vegas, something that seemed almost impossible just months before.

As for the record-breaking run in Pomona, Force knew immediately it was something special. He had his first three-second run last month at Maple Grove and Saturday’s performance was similar.

“I knew it was a good run and I knew it ran in the 3s,” Force said. “It’s a rocket shot and it was on a mission. I could hear them yelling on the camera, but I knew she ran in the 3s.”

The mid-season switch to Prock – which sent Mike Neff to Robert Hight’s team – was questioned at the time, but it now seems like another genius brushstroke in Force’s marvelous career.

Hight won back-to-back races after struggling most of the year and Force has been remarkably dominant throughout the Countdown.

Now as the No. 1 qualifier heading into Sunday’s eliminations, Force has an opportunity to close out a tremendous 2013 season with four straight victories.

Because he struggled mightily earlier in the season simply makes it all the sweeter.

“As good as you think you know the game, it’s tough and we struggled all year,” Force said. “It’s hard to get that fire and then all of a sudden it just gets on a roll. We got a new chassis built and it’s just really working. Some days it is just magic.”

Mike KnudsenTEMP CREW CHIEFS PLAY THEIR ROLES THIS WEEKEND - Their instructions this weekend are to hold down the fort, but for co-crew chiefs Mike Knudsen and Terry Snyder, the NHRA Auto Club Finals could very well be an audition for the future.

Knudsen is subbing for Matt Hagan’s crew chief Dickie Venables, out this weekend following a surgical procedure, while Jason Snyder, with Todd Okuhara, fills the spot vacated by Jack Beckman’s tuner Todd Smith, who was released following the Las Vegas event two weeks ago.

Both knew there was a day coming when they’d get to perform on the big stage. However, for Knudsen, he expected later over sooner.

“It’s definitely something I didn’t expect to happen in my first season as a co-crew chief,” said Knudsen. “I have assumed the role as best as I can in running it the way Dickie and I have all year. He’s had such a good handle on it all year with all the notes and information we have. I’ve been plugging in the numbers and it has been running what it should.”

“I was a little bit nervous,” said Snyder. “At the same time, knowing who I am working with, it’s almost business as usual for me.

Snyder, while feeling a bit of pressure, said this weekend he’s tried to fill his normal role and do what is needed above and beyond.

“In my opinion, I am still playing the role that I’ve always played,” said Snyder. “I’m just working with a different guy and enjoying what I am doing.”

Both temporary tuners have visions of crew chief land well off on their career landscapes.

“It’s definitely a huge opportunity, and you really learn a lot when you’re put on the spot,” Knudsen said. “But, with all the help from [Rahn] Tobler, Todd Okuhara and all of the crew chiefs here, we have a lot of information I can learn off of, and guys to learn off of. Yes, my aspiration is to be a crew chief, but not sure if I am to this point right now.”
Terry Snyder
Snyder believes, as a crew chief, climbing the ladder and striking out when the right opportunity presents itself, is a natural for someone in their positions.

“You work out here and you love the sport,” said Snyder. “You want to move up the ladder and learn all you can.”

Knudsen believes the infrastructure at Don Schumacher Racing lends to success for tuners, especially those who are in training.

“They aren’t going to let us fail,” Knudsen said. “If we need help, they are going to be here to help us every step of the way through. They’ve all come in the lounge [over the weekend] and looked over the information, to make sure I am on the right path.” 

Hagan’s 4.014 elapsed time during qualifying placed him into the No. 2 spot headed into Sunday’s final eliminations. Beckman, after leading qualifying Thursday, ended qualifications as the 11th quickest.

GUNNING FOR SECOND - Robert Hight will face Ron Capps in the first round. Both drivers are looking to move up in the points. Hight holds a 22-14 record against Capps. This will be the third time they have faced each other at the Auto Club NHRA Finals and currently their head to head record is 1-1 in the season finale.

“We are ready for race day. We were going for a low elapsed time run and we just overpowered the track a little bit. That was all it took to smoke the tires,” said Hight, the No. 5 qualifier. “We can back it down and be ready for round one tomorrow. Our goal is to move up as high as we can in the points. We got bonus points in three straight qualifying sessions before the final one. This Auto Club Ford Mustang has been consistent all weekend and we will be ready to close out the season on a high note.”

STILL SEARCHING - Jack Beckman understands he can't win another championship, but a national event trophy will provide a nice consolation prize.

"I want a Wally,” admitted Beckman. “I just want a Wally," Beckman said of the moniker attached to the NHRA event trophy named after NHRA founder Wally Parks.

"If given the choice to win the race and not finish second, or not win the race and finish second, I would rather win," he said. "I want a Wally. I don't care where we finish in the points. I want the trophy.

"You never know if your last win is your last win. To close out the season with a win is huge. We've been consistent all year; we just haven't closed the deal yet."

Beckman, who has won 15 titles in his career, has not won through this season's first 23 events despite making it to the championship round three times. He has earned at least one Wally in each season since joining DSR in 2006.

DEL THUNDERS TO ANOTHER STRONG RUN – Del Worsham, after rising as high as second during Friday qualifying with a 4.02, was the quickest of Q-3 with a 4.019, barely missing the pole position by .001. He smoked the tires in the final session and dropped to fourth.

HEADED INTO RACE DAY - Matt Hagan ran a 4.06-second effort in the heat of the day on Saturday.

"We're here racing without Dickie this weekend and there's no replacing that guy, but a 4.06 from Mike was stepping out," Hagan said. "These guys are really putting a good race car underneath me.

"It was all over the place, I was just trying not to steer it too much and get the tires broken loose. It settled down, got in the groove and man alive it was just a great run out there in the heat of the day and we got some great data to work off of tomorrow with this Magneti Marelli/Mopar car and hopefully we can turn on some win lights."

BODE GETS A SPOT – Underdog hero Bob Bode will give the Pomona fans something to cheer about as he starts in Sunday’s final eliminations from the No. 16 spot with a 4.166 best.
THE LAST DANCE – Johnny Gray heads into his final race as a Funny Car driver as the No. 10 qualifier. He races Jeff Arend, who in the last session cranked out his second 4.0-second pass as a Jim Dunn Racing driver.



PRO STOCK

STILL HANGING IN - Mike Edwards did everything he could during qualifying at the NHRA Auto Club Finals in Pomona.

Now he needs a miracle to truly make it a dream weekend.

Edwards qualified No. 1 in Pro Stock, running 6.530 at 212.23, giving him 15 No. 1 qualifying position in 2013.

It’s just one shy of the record he holds and Edwards will head into eliminations 70 points behind leader Jeg Coughlin.

That means Edwards will need a miraculous run through eliminations – and an early exit from the red-hot Coughlin – to claim his second career world championship, something he’s well aware of.

“We came and we really well in qualifying,” Edwards said. “It’s a tremendous job by the whole team. We came in knowing we had to do everything perfect and (the championship) is still in sight. We ran well and qualified good, and we’ll see what happens (Sunday).”

Edwards is tied with Jason Line, who second in 6.543 at 212.16, in the point standings, while Coughlin qualified fourth in 6.545 at 211.43.

Coughlin’s first round matchup is with Vicent Nobile, and Edwards knows he will need help to earn a championship.

A record run would help in running down a championship, but Edwards crossed that possibility off the list.

“I don’t think there’s a record out there, but we dug ourselves a hole,” Edwards said. “Anything’s possible, though, in drag racing. We had opportunities we felt we left out there, but we’re just going to try to do the best we can and see where we finish.”

The Countdown to the Championship certainly hasn’t been kind to Edwards, who was dominant during the regular season. He held the points lead for the most of the season heading into the Countdown, winning a class-best six times in what was a thoroughly impressive regular season.

Unfortunately for Edwards, it’s been a distinctly different story in the Countdown. He’s advanced to just one final round, losing twice in the first round, including the last race in Las Vegas.

That has made chasing down Coughlin decidedly more difficult, but Edwards is willing and ready to make one last attempt on Sunday.

“We’re doing the best we can,” Edwards said. “(Sunday) is going to be interesting to say the least. I have an awesome team. I’ve struggled in the Countdown, but I’m so proud of my team. It’s been a great season for us and I’m really proud of my guys.”

COUGHLIN LIKELY TO CLINCH WITH RD. 1 WIN– With only a first round win on Sunday, Jeg Coughlin Jr. could become just the eighth driver in NHRA history to win five championships in a professional category.

Coughlin, who races the Jegs.com Dodge Avenger, carried a comfortable 71-point lead into this weekend's Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway. He then eliminated the worst-case scenario of failing to qualify bylanding in the No. 4 spot.

If Coughlin can beat teammate Vincent Nobile in the first round of eliminations Sunday morning, the championship will essentially be clinched.

"We're looking to get out and put down a really good run and turn the win light on," Coughlin said. "We've got a lot of racing to do but I love racing here at Pomona so I say bring it on. I've been guilty of saying how much I love Pomona a little too much here recently, but these fans really fire me up, and there's a lot of neat stuff at stake. We'd love to perform well tomorrow, and let the rest take care of itself."

Coughlin's Dodge Avenger has been consistently fast this weekend, with his best run of 6.545 seconds at 211.43 mph. His other three passes were within .011 seconds of that, and the JEGS.com/Mopar Dodge has been in the top three in all four qualifying sessions.

"We've been very, very consistent," Coughlin said. "We had a pair of .55s and a pair of .54s, in that order. I've been driving well and hitting the Tree pretty well, and I'm ready to do some battle tomorrow."

Coughlin has won four races and reached eight finals this season. He took over the points lead by winning at Reading, Pa., in the fourth of the six Countdown to the Championship races.

Nobile qualified No. 13 with a top pass of 6.583 seconds at 210.37 mph.

HONEYMOON OVER, TIME TO RETURN TO WORK - The honeymoon from the Las Vegas victory is over for Shane Gray, or at least it seemed to be that way during Pomona qualifying.

"We did okay in qualifying, but we ran into some issues that bit us a little," said Gray, who forfeited the third qualifying pass when an oil line broke after the burnout and he was forced to shut off. "But you know I have a great team here, and these Gray Motorsports guys are wanting this win tomorrow just as much as I am. It would sure be a great way to end the season."

Gray and his team have powered their Gray Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro to the final round six times this season, and the Vegas win two weeks ago cured a 60-race winless drought.

During qualifying, Gray was a regular in the 6.5-second zone and laid down passes of 6.585, 210.41 mph; 6.597, 209.92; and an improved 6.567 at 211.33 mph to close out the final session in the No. 9 position.

"The Good Lord has something in store for us tomorrow, and we'll figure out what that is when the time comes," said Gray. "But I think it will be a good race. Tomorrow should be a good day, and I'm excited to get down to it. Here we go."

LOOKING FOR ANOTHER - Pro Stock veteran V. Gaines (6.552/212.16), fresh off a final round appearance at the recent NHRA Vegas race, will start sixth and draw Greg Anderson as his opening foe.


JUST DIDN’T WORK OUT – Greg Anderson planned to help his Summit Racing teammate Jason Line in his quest for the 2013 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock world championship. The plan just didn’t materialize.

Anderson tried to position himself on the ladder opposite points leader Jeg Coughlin, who is heavy in the battle for the title with Line and Mike Edwards. The 74-time national event winner and four-time Pro Stock champion qualified in the No. 11 position while Coughlin landed in the No. 4 spot.

"I was basically just trying to get my car to run as well as I could yet not qualify in the top half of the show, and I was trying to qualify opposite Jeg Coughlin," explained Anderson. "We have one shot at this thing, and somehow he has to lose first round and Jason has to go on to win the event. I would rather have it in our control; I'd rather race the man than count on someone else to beat him."

Anderson will race V. Gaines in round one and watch as Coughlin races Vincent Nobile. Line is on the same side of the ladder as Anderson, and the two could meet in the semifinals. If they should meet, it will be an "every man forhimself" situation as Line could be gunning for the championship but Anderson will be vying for his first event win of the season. This is the first time since 2000 that Anderson has not won an event heading into raceday at the final race of the season.

"I took a shot in qualifying, shutting the car off early to try to get matched up against [Coughlin] first round, but we still got all the data we needed to the 1,000-foot mark and could see how the car was running and how the changes we were making were working," said Anderson. "We should have a good car tomorrow with my Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro, and there is still a race to be won. Qualifying is behind us, and it's out of our hands now. Whatever happens, we know we did what we could, and we'll just have to see how the cards fall."

LOOKING AHEAD - Pro Stock driver Larry Morgan said he is going to spend the off-season re-evaluating his program and be ready to come out firing when the season starts anew in February. He failed to miss the cut in Pomona.

"I'm going to have to do a lot of work over the winter," Morgan said. "The first thing on my list is to be able to trust the tools I have at my disposal to tune the car. Right now my graphs say that I'm burning the engine up on every run, but when we get back the spark plugs look fine."

Morgan said he had been in a similar situation earlier in his career, and he knows to trust his instincts over a computer readout.

"This happened back when I was racing with Bob Glidden," Morgan said. "Our sponsor sent some engineers to help tune the car. They set up the car according to what the computer said, and we struggled the first three races.

"After that I told Bob that I thought we weren't putting enough gas in the car and it was leaning out. That run we made that change and the car qualified No. 5."

Morgan said despite this temporary setback, he's not going down without a fight.

"I've got a lot of support from Forrest and Charlotte Lucas," Morgan said. "I know I haven't exactly been holding up our end of the deal, but we're going to come back next year with a better car and be more of a contender."

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

PSM'S ARANA JR. COMES IN LIKE LION, PLANS TO GO OUT WITH ROAR - Hector Arana Jr. began the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle season looking nearly unstoppable.

Uncooperative motors and broken parts disrupted his momentum, costing him his year-long points lead halfway through the Countdown.

But he qualified his Lucas Oil Buell in the top spot Saturday at the Auto Club NHRA Finals Auto Club Raceway with a 6.818-second elapsed time on the quarter-mile at 195.51 mph at the historic Pomona, Calif., racetrack.

And after securing his third No. 1 qualifying position this season and 13th of his young career, Arana Jr. said he wants to end the season the same way he started -- with a victory.

He'll race Jim Underdahl in Sunday's first round of eliminations

Younger brother Adam Arana, who started the weekend as No. 1 and closed qualifying with the class' fastest speed (196.36 mph), is No. 2 in the order. Their father, 2009 series champion Hector Arana Sr., joined them in the top five.

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK -

TOP FUEL

LANGDON BUYS INTO AL-ANABI'S 'NEVER-SATISFIED' MANTRA - Shawn Langdon coaxed a little more horsepower Friday from his Al-Anabi Racing Dragster and remained the Top Fuel class' provisional No. 1 qualifier for the Auto Club NHRA Finals.

The points leader inched closer to his first Top Fuel series championship, holding off closest challenger Antron Brown as both clocked better elapsed times than they did in Thursday's opening session.

Langdon eclipsed his 3.772-second performance on the 1,000-foot Auto Club Raceway course from Thursday with a 3.750. Brown, second in the lineup with a 3.787, drove his Matco Tools Dragster to a 3.775-second E.T.

"That's one great thing about the Al-Anabi team. They're never satisfied with what they have. It's always taking it to the next level, trying to find that next advantage, and trying to keep a step ahead of the competition," Langdon said.

Racers have two more chances Saturday, at 11:45 a.m. and 1:45 p.m., to narrow the field from 18 to 16 for Sunday's eliminations.

ROOKIE EXCLAMATION - Brittany Force applied an exclamation point to her season by driving her Castrol EDGE Top Fuel dragster to a personal best run of 3.787 seconds at 323.19 miles per hour.

The run marked her third personal best in the last seven races and sends her into Saturday’s final two preliminary sessions as the No. 4 qualifier.

“Coming out yesterday and running 3.84 with a cylinder out at about 200 feet was a pretty good number all things considered,” said the aspiring schoolteacher.  “I felt pretty good about coming out here today. We were hoping to be able to improve – which we did.

“That was the quickest run of my career,” she said.  “I am so excited for my team and my guys to run that 3.78.  I am so pumped and I can’t wait to get back to the track tomorrow.”

“Being able to run that number just means so much,” said the graduate of Cal State-Fullerton.  “This is the last race of the year and the last race of our rookie season. We want to do the best we can. We want to finish up the season doing our best and runs like that really help.”

WINDOW IS CLOSING – Antron Brown, the only Top Fuel driver with a mathematical possibility of capturing the championship ahead of front-runner Shawn Langdon, laid down a 3.775 second pass at 322.42 mph. 


“There are still two more rounds of qualifying, so we’ll at least try and square it up for the weekend on Saturday,” said Brown, who now trails Langdon by 104 points after the Al-Anabi driver collected three bonus points for the top qualifying effort of the session while Brown collected two. “They gained another point, so they have two points on us this weekend. We’ll keep plugging away. We’ve made two great runs. We’ll just keep pushing and tomorrow should be even better. We have two more shots at it tomorrow. The weather will be cooler, so we’ll just crank things up and go out there and get it done.”

STRONG RUN FOR DEPARTING LUCAS – As time ticks away for Morgan Lucas’ driving career, he wasted no time in landing the third quickest lap after two sessions with a 3.782.

STILL PRETTY IN PINK – Terry McMillen, tuned by Richard Hartman, thundered to a 3.814 to earn a spot in the top twelve headed into Saturday’s final sessions.

SCHUMACHER ON THE OUTSIDE – Tony Schumacher missed the top twelve spot, despite a 3.819 second elapsed time at 322.58 mph. He finished the day as No. 13 qualifier.

“To be totally honest, I thought that was an awesome run,” Schumacher said. “It may not necessarily look that way on the timesheet right now because a lot of guys are out there, being that it’s the end of the season and all, who are willing to blow up parts and pieces to get down the track on Friday afternoon. Like I said yesterday, we have reverted to a tune-up we used previously this year – at Chicago, where we won – and it’s just a matter of tweaking it to where we can be superfast down the track this weekend.”

ON THE OUTSIDE – Joining Schumacher without a run headed into Saturday are Steve Torrence, Troy Buff, Billy Torrence, Steven Chrisman, and Todd Paton.

FUNNY CAR

FORCE DELIVERS IN THE CLUTCH – Some aspects of driving you just cannot teach. For 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force being able to deliver in the clutch is one of his greatest lessons he can never teach.

“You have to put in 35 years,” Force explained, during his Friday press conference at the Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona, Ca. He ran a 4.015 elapsed time at 318.62 miles per hour to snatch away the top spot from Del Worsham.

“In those 35 years you learn clutch plays. Those clutch plays are based on the crew chief, the right attitude, mindset and not going into panic mode, the team making the right calls and the driver making the right decisions. You learn that unless you are magic. You won’t find somebody with that much magic, except for maybe Dale Earnhardt. He could do good stuff no matter how bad the situation was.”

Force believes it is very hard to have a struggling car and win.

“Out here it is tough to have a bad car and win,” said Force. “You’re under that pressure to not cave in. I only learned it, and my girls asked me, ‘Dad, I get up there and get that pressure and it comes on.

“I tell them, ‘I can’t teach you that.’ From getting those black eyes and losing, being a bridesmaid nine times Those  people laughing at you and you wake up one day and decide, ‘this ain’t working, so I am going to go out and have fun.’” 

This season might have been the most magical for the iconic Funny Car driver.

“I wish I could say I have magic,” Force said. “It’s being with the right bunch of guys … the right sponsors to hire the right people and then you rally those people together. You do your job as a driver. Sometimes you get the magic. Matt Hagan had it all year long. I couldn’t compete with him. All of a sudden, I couldn’t make the Countdown. Suddenly it just turned around. Whatever it was, new car … new attitude … it wasn’t me. I just do what I always do. Morale is important and when you are down and struggling, you have to get up.”

CANNOT REPLACE HIM – Just days before the season-ending NHRA Auto Club Finals, Don Schumacher Racing announced Dickie Venables, the crew chief for driver Matt Hagan’s Funny Car, would not be attending the event while he recovers from a surgical procedure.

The loss was immediately felt by Hagan, who has praised his new tuner many times for righting what appeared to be an uncertain ship in preseason.

“It’s definitely not the same,” Hagan said, of racing for the first time in 2013 without Venables. “All of our thoughts and prayers are with him. It’s a tough deal. The main thing is to get him healthy and back out here with us.

“This crew is very capable. I have confidence in Mike Knudsen that we can run this car and go rounds on Sunday. But, it’s not about that, we just want him out here with us. You cannot replace the guy. This weekend will be a matter of doing the best we can with what we have available.”

Hagan kept a perch in the top half of the field by thundering to a 4.043 elapsed time at 319.52 miles per hour.

“He did a good job training this crew to work in his absence,” Hagan said. “These guys will step up. You cannot replace him but he has made it to where they will do a good job. He’s always led by example. From the time he took over here he led by example. Add in the support structure we have at DSR and I believe we will keep it running along the same lines.”

Alex Conoway, who worked with Venables on two other teams before following him to this one, said one of Venable’s best attributes is his ability to communicate. In a sense, Conoway believes Venables did a great job of keeping his crew on the same page.

“I don’t think it was ever the plan, but deep down I think Dickie set up this team to where we could run in a situation like this,” said Conoway. “He wants everyone to be on the same page and know what is going on. He wanted us to know his thought processes and doings. We have been able to work off of his notes.”

DHL DELIVERS WITH WORSHAM – Del Worsham flirted with the top spot during Friday qualifying, pushing his DHL Toyota to the second quickest run of the session with a 4.024.

MOON SHOT FOR AREND - California native Jeff Arend was ninth in his Charger, posting a 4.080, 308.43.


BABY GIRL BACKFIRES - Courtney Force’s special edition Traxxas Ford Mustang suffered a mechanical failure at the hit of the throttle Friday, backfiring the supercharger and inflicted serious damage to the carbon fiber body.

“Our Traxxas team had a rough day at the office,” said Force. “The conditions were great; the track was cooling down because it was being shaded a little more. We definitely had our eyes set on a good run. We watched a couple of the cars ahead of us run in the low 4.0s.

“There was a 4.04 and a 4.06 ahead of us, so we were definitely aiming low.  We wanted to get our car maybe even in the 3s if we could do it, but we definitely wanted to get a low 4.0 run to get us to the top of the board.”

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

“We went up there and banged the blower. It’s unfortunate and I’m bummed for my Traxxas crew. This is the last time we’ll be running the rookie car. It definitely hurt it on that run, but the good thing is everyone is OK.  We’ll see if we can find and fix the problem and just get back after it tomorrow,” said 2012's top rookie.  “We’ll be running the pink car for the rest of the weekend and I’m excited for that.” (Ron Lewis Photo)

THE BATTLE FOR SECOND PLACE – With the NHRA Funny Car title decided two weeks ago at the NHRA Toyota Nationals, the largest battle this weekend in Pomona is for second place in the point standings. The second and third place ranked drivers are both from Don Schumacher Racing and both without the crew chief they began the season with.

Matt Hagan wants to maintain his position, if only to deliver for a crew he believes has been solid all season long.

“It’s definitely a big bonus for my guys,” Hagan said. “That’s our incentive for wanting to finish so strong. There’s thousands of dollars between finishing third or second. For our crew, those with families, there’s a lot on the line. That’s why we are going to finish as strong as we can.

“I want to finish as strong as I can. We held the points lead for most of the year, and then John came on strong at the end. You tip your hat to the guy … he’s been driving his a** off all year. He has a great race car underneath him.”

Jack Beckman trailed Hagan by less than a point headed into Pomona.

“There are so many ways this can unfold this weekend,” said Beckman. “We could win the race and still not pass Hagan in the points. We could not win the race and still pass him. At the end of the day, it still doesn’t matter. We aren’t going to try any harder than we always do to win. In kind of a way, it’s like a breath of fresh air because of what the points are; there’s no pressure for us.

“When we came in here last year we have a four point lead and it was absolutely gut-wrenching, nail biting time. The championship’s done this year. Worlds aren’t going to change depending on who finishes third, fourth or fifth. Our approach isn’t going to change - there will just be a new guy steering the ship.”

The race for runner-up isn’t solely a Don Schumacher Racing lovefest, as Robert Hight and Courtney Force are both within three rounds of Hagan.

Also in contention in the sixth place Ron Capps, who holds a slim chance to chase down his teammate Hagan, and if he could pull it off, would secure his sixth career Funny Car title runner-up.

“I had a conversation with a fan who told me they hope I win a championship and I told them, ‘I appreciate it, and hear that a lot.” There are a lot of drivers on the grounds who would love to say they have finished second, as well as coming within a few points of winning,” said Capps. “To have been there as many times and have come as close that many times is almost as impressive as someone winning the championship a couple of times.

“If you look at the ones who won the title a couple of times, they hit their stride at the right time. To finish second that many times, and even third with the old points system, is even more impressive with the teams I’ve had and what we did. I’d love to when a championship but I am really grateful I’ve been put in the position.”

STRONG SHOWING - Robert Hight was pleased with his Friday performance.

“We picked up two qualifying bonus points yesterday and one today,” Hight said, “so that’s big; that’s moving us in the right direction.  Going up there, (crew chief) Mike Neff said he thought we could run a 4.03, so we were two thousandths better than that. That shows you have a good handle on your race car.

“We need to be at the top here. We’re really trying to win this race for Auto Club and end this season on a high note. So far, so good. I give my team an A+.”

PRO STOCK



FIRST THINGS FIRST, FOR I AM SECOND TEAM – Mike Edwards was too busy adjusting the valves after his run to do a post-run interview on Friday afternoon at the Auto Club NHRA Finals. After losing two team members prior to the Las Vegas event, the two-time NHRA series champion lost one more under different circumstances.

Crew chief Allen Lindsey was sent back to Oklahoma to spend time with his ailing father Charles, whose health had taken a turn for the worse.

The Interstate Batteries/IamSecond.com team briefly lost their provisional qualifying lead during Friday’s lone session only to thunder back and reclaim the top spot with a 6.545 elapsed time at 212.23. Edwards picked up two points on second place points earner Jason Line and one on leader Jeg Coughlin Jr.

“Drag racing means nothing compared to life,” Edwards said. “It’s just hard for Al. He had some bad news about his dad, so we put him on a plane and sent him home. We are just praying that everything works out. It’s tough but first things are first. Drag racing is way down the line when it comes to family members.”

Lindsey wanted to stay and help the team but Edwards wouldn’t let him stay.

“There was no way I was keeping him here,” said Edwards. “It’s all about family for me. It’s Christ first and then our family followed by job or racing, whatever comes. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.”

Edwards came into the weekend ranked third and trailing Coughlin by 77 points.

MAKING THE LEAP - Bruno Massel finally made the jump.

The Comp eliminator standout made his Pro Stock debut this weekend at the NHRA Auto Club Finals in Pomona, Ca. Massel is driving Steve Kent’s Protect the Harvest Camaro with additional backing from AutoGeek.com.

“This is exciting and I am really fired up about it,” said Massel. “It’s something I wanted to do for about the last ten years. I finally got the chance to do it.”

Massel ran a 6.649 in his first session as a professional driver.

“That was just to get the jitters out and get a run under my belt,” Massel said. “Now that we’ve done that, it’s time to try to race.”


According to Massel, the first run was a challenge as he fought back the emotions of realizing a dream.

“I took it all in as I turned the corner,” Massel said. “I had never raced at Pomona before this weekend and to do it in a Pro Stock car, I had to take a deep breath and ask myself if this was really happening. At that point, before I knew it, the run was over and the parachutes were out. I don’t know that I have fully processed it yet. I was a bit behind mentally on the first day but the next day, I am up to speed.”

Massel admits he can relate to a minor league baseball player in their first professional game.

“Without a doubt,” Massel said. “It’s a big step up. It’s a whole different level. I’m not putting anyone down but you cannot image the attention to detail in this class. The least detail determines a good or bad run. You almost overlook how technical these cars are. It’s mind boggling.”

JEGGIE STILL IN CONTROL – Point leader Jeggie Coughlin opened Thursday’s qualifying with the third quickest run of the session, a mark of 6.554, 210.73. He rebounded in Friday’s lone session with a run which temporarily held the top spot, a 6.552, but was eventually relegated to second.

KEEPING IN LINE – Jason Line is hanging tough in the championship chase. Line, who entered the event in the No. 2 spot in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock standings, earned three bonus points in two days but failed to net a gain on Coughlin, who qualified third and second as well.

Line has a 6.554 at 210.93 mph best headed into Saturday’s third session, a session many drivers feel will provide the best conditions of qualifying.

JUST MAKING THE CUT – Matt Hartford closed out the first day of qualifying by leaping into the twelfth spot as he cranked out a 6.589 in his Total Seal-sponsored Dodge Avenger.

ODDS STACKED AGAINST CHAMP – Allen Johnson, the defending series champ, faces a significant deficit in his bid to catch teammate and points leader Coughlin, but isn’t about to quit in his bid for a repeat in his Mopar Express Lane Dodge Avenger.

“I’m the eternal optimist and I still haven’t quite given up hope on the title,” said Johnson, who trails by 95 points with two qualifying sessions left before the elimination rounds. “Going into Thursday, I was determined to try to get all four three-point bonuses in qualifying and try to out-qualify Jeggie [Coughlin] by two positions. He could always go out early and I could win the race and beat him by a point. Now, after two qualifying sessions, it would be a bit more difficult, but looking at Sunday the weather may turn cool and we may just set a record, so I’m not ready to give it up just yet.”

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

ARANA JR: SORRY, BRO -- I'M NO. 1 NOW . . . AND $50 RICHER - Sorry, Bro.

That's what Hector Arana Jr. told younger brother Adam Friday afternoon at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Calif.

He wasn't handing out mock-apologies only for recording the weekend's quickest and fastest pass of 6.837 seconds at 195.51 mph that took the Pro Stock Motorcycle's provisional top qualifying position away from Adam.

He was saying, "Sorry, Bro" because he also took $50 out of the rookie's pocket.

The duo from Milltown, Ind., had a bet between them, with 50 bucks going to the one who got to the finish line first in their second of four qualifying runs Friday on the quarter-mile.

Adam Arana, Thursday's provisional leader with a 6.888-second elapsed time at 195.28 mph, got there in 6.874 seconds at 194.18 mph on his ProtectTheHarvest.com / MAVTV Buell.

But Hector Jr. came along three pairings later with his Lucas Oil Buell and posted a 6.837, 195.51 to swipe the top spot with two more sessions Saturday.

"It wasn't for position -- it was whoever won. I got his 50 bucks," Hector Jr. said. "Maybe he can get me back tomorrow."

The final sessions are scheduled for 11:45 a.m. and 1:45 p.m.

Adam Arana is third overnight, as Scotty Pollacheck used a Matt Smith bike and improved to second place Friday with a 6.874-second E.T.

Dad Hector Sr., 22nd out of 23 racers Thursday, solved some transmission troubles that followed him here from Las Vegas and settled into sixth place.

So the possibility of the Arana trio starting 1-2-3 race day morning is in the realm of possibility.

"That's the goal, honestly, every weekend, all year long," Hector Arana Jr. said. "Hopefully we can accomplish that this year. Whatever happens happens. And we're always going out there to do our best.

"My brother tunes his bike. I tune mine. And my dad tunes his. Of course, we help each other. But ultimately, we're over there, trying to do whatever we think's going to be best, racing each other in the pits," he said.

As he aims for his third No. 1 qualifying position this season and 13th of his career, Hector Arana Jr. said, "I hear it's going to cool down even more tomorrow. We're really looking forward to seeing what we can run tomorrow."

He said he did nothing special to bring about his improvement, other than "just a couple of minor adjustments." He said, "We cross our fingers and hope for the best" and that it's a matter of "everything coming together, getting some good motors back together, staying focused, and relax[ing] and [having] fun."

Chaz Kennedy is on the bump spot after two sessions at 7.031 seconds.

Still unqualified are No. 17 Matt Smith, the newly crowned class champion, as well as Freddie Camarena, Michael Phillips, Rhett Lougheed, Redell Harris, James Surber, and Bailey Whitaker.

THURSDAY NOTEBOOK -

LANGDON TRYING TO CALM HIMSELF, DESPITE NO. 1 START AT FINALE - Top Fuel points leader Shawn Langdon isn't overconfident about wresting the series championship from Don Schumacher Racing's Antron Brown, his closest challenger.

He wasn't puffed up Thursday afternoon at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona after zipping to the top of the provisional qualifying order for this weekend's season-ending race with a 3.772-second run at 322.27-mph speed, holding off Brown and his 3.787-second E.T. at a day's fastest speed of 323.74 mph.

He did concede, "That run was very critical, to grab the pole in the first session and put a little pressure on Antron" and that "this is a big event in my young career." But he wasn't taking anything for granted.

Others, including Langdon's Al-Anabi Racing crew chief, Brian Husen, might be ready to crown the young racer from down the road in Mira Loma. But Langdon himself isn't.

"Shawn, he's the future of this sport. He's a young driver. He's a great guy. He deserves to win the championship," Husen told a TV reporter two weeks ago at Las Vegas.

But Husen said Langdon, a two-time national Super Comp champion in the sportsman ranks, is wired about his chance to earn his first pro-class title.

"As a group and as a team, it's our job to keep him calm, because he's super-excited," Husen said. "We're all excited [on the Al-Anabi Racing team], but we've been here before." They have been, with Larry Dixon and Del Worsham -- and some with Team Manager Alan Johnson in the Tony Schumacher years.

Langdon gave Husen and Johnson top marks for that. He said they're "doing an excellent job of that. I've always tried to pride myself in cutting great reaction times and being always able to perform under pressure. These last couple of races, I've made a couple of little mistakes.  . . . Those guys -- Alan and Brian and the whole Al-Anabi team -- they really know how to work well under pressure.

"And there have been a couple of instances that I might not have performed up to my expectations. And they're quick to sit me down and kind of straighten me back out," Langdon said. "They're able to keep my mind right."

The key, he said to Countdown pressure is to "surround yourself with good people. And these are great people."

Husen said reassuringly, "We got this."

"That's easy for him to say!" Langdon said Thursday. "I'm sweating in the car -- and not from the heat!"

But Langdon did encourage himself by acknowledging that the real pressure is on Brown.

"Antron probably has a little more pressure than we do," he said. "He has to perform this weekend. He has to qualify better than us. He would have to set a record. He would have to win the race. We just have to make good runs down the track. If we can make four good qualifying runs, qualify well, and win first round, it's kind of in our hands a little bit.

"We're not trying to get wrapped up in too many things," he said. "We're just trying to make good, clean runs. In the sport of drag racing, there's a lot of 'What if's and 'Woulda, shoulda, coulda. We're not trying to think about any of that."

He's falling back on that "one run at a time" theory. "Everything's going to fall as it will," he said.

Langdon said he has mixed emotions about the process which, despite two national titles, is a bit new to him.

"If you stop and you think about it and you have a free minute . . . I'm trying to soak it all in. It's not a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but it's an opportunity I haven't had before. I'm trying to give myself time to let everything soak in. I'm trying to allow myself to do that," Langdon said. "But you sit back and think about it, you feel the adrenaline going. You feel the nerves come in.

"So I'm trying not to think about it too much and keep the nerves out of my system," he said. His focus, he said, is "just to go and do what we know how to do and make good runs down the track -- and have fun this weekend."

Provisional top Funny Car qualifier Jack Beckman visited with reporters Thursday afternoon just before Langdon had his turn. After emphasizing, "I want a Wally!" the reigning but winless-in-2013 champion said, "I'm going to get out of here so Shawn can come in. God knows he knows his way to the press room."

With seven No. 1 starts so far and a possible eight one in the making -- and six victories this season in nine final-round appearances -- Langdon does have a path worn to the press room.

And Langdon wants a Wally trophy this weekend, too. But he's hoping it would be dwarfed by the championship trophy.

BECKMAN ROLLS INTO POMONA; DOESN’T MISS A STEP -When it comes time to race in Las Vegas, Jack Beckman might have a challenge in getting a crew chief to accompany him to the event based on his track record. Twice the defending series champion went into the facility with a crew chief, and left without one.

“That’s what I’ve heard,” said Beckman with a laugh. “It’s odd that I am not adding a crew chief, I’m just bringing back an old one. It’ll still be Todd and Terry tuning. It’s just a different Todd this time.”

Beckman’s crew chief, Todd Smith, who tuned him to the 2012 NHRA Funny Car title, was relieved of his command on Sunday following the team’s semifinal finish at the recently completed NHRA Toyota Nationals at Las Vegaswhen he didn’t commit immediately to returning in 2014.

Beckman understands the challenge of nitro tuners as one of here today and gone tomorrow.

“As you spend more time in this industry, you learn it’s the nature of the business,” Beckman said. “You talk to the crew chiefs who have been doing this for twenty years – they’ve worn many different shirts. That just means there’s a lot of turnover. People go where they feel their best fit is or convenient. I get it. It’s tough to lose Todd. We will always be friends.”

Smith joined Don Schumacher Racing last year following a reassignment of crew chiefs within the team. Crew chief Rahn Tobler and crew were transferred over to the Ron Capps’ NAPA car while Smith was brought in to manage the crew formerly with Capps.

Beckman said he believes what he, Smith and the team did was extraordinary in bonding and inevitably, winning.

“I think what we did last year was beyond magic,” said Beckman. “If you could have scripted a championship season – there was more drama than I believed anyone could have injected into it. We lived all of that together. Now it’s time for us to focus on the next race. The next race happens to be the last race.”

The only frustration Beckman appears to have is the lack of a national event Wally in 2013.

“Not having a won a race, outside of the Traxxas Showdown and the $100,000, but not having won a national event is frustrating for the team with the No. 1 on the side of the car. This is the last race with it for about a year. It would be nice to finish the season with a win.”

And for Beckman, he isn’t second guessing Schumacher’s decisions this go-round either.

“Don’s never given me a crew chief who didn’t win at least one race with me driving with them,” said Beckman. “Don’s never given me a car which finished outside of the top five. How on earth do you second guess that kind of a track record of success?

“When you step back and take the emotion out of this, Don has assembled a dynasty at Schumacher Racing. He wants to win, every much as every driver, crew chief and crewmember does. Believe me when I say he’s hungry for this stuff. He makes choices that get us those results. Whatever he decides, or whatever direction he goes, I am always going to be comfortable.”

Thursday, during qualifying at the NHRA Auto Club Finals, Beckman jumped to the top of Funny Car qualifying with a pass of 4.077 seconds at 309.20 mph.

"That was a great run, but I don't believe it will be the quickest in qualifying," Beckman concluded.

EDWARDS REBOUNDS FROM VEGAS LOSS WITH POMONA PROVISIONAL NO. 1 - Mike Edwards, in a span of two weeks, has seen firsthand the peaks and valleys of drag racing. It’s sort of been this way all season long for the regular season’s overwhelming point leader, who has dropped to third after a frustrating Countdown to the Championship.

“That’s what you call Pro Stock,” Edwards said. “That’s how strong the teams out here are. If you think you have this class figured out and you feel you have your car figured out, just go up there and make another run. It will prove to you that you don’t. Frustrated and disappointed, there’s a lot you could say about Vegas. The bottom line is I didn’t get it done.”

Edward lost in the first round of eliminations at the NHRA Toyota Nationals, and for the most part eliminated himself from realistic championship contention.

He trails leader Jeg Coughlin Jr. by eighty points, the equivalent of four rounds.

“Somebody needs to shove Jeggie off of the stage for me to have a real chance,” said Edwards. “I guess mathematically we are still alive, but I like his chances.”

Dismayed with the loss at Vegas, Edwards proclaimed on national television that he “ought to give it up.” Edwards was later crypticwhen explaining his comments, comments that led to speculation for the 2014 season.

“I said that in the heat of the moment,” said Edwards. “I got one more race to decide what I am going to do.”

There was no speculation, however, where Edwards stood during Thursday qualifying at the NHRA Auto Club Finals at Pomona, Ca.

Edwards drove his way to the top spot with a 6.553 second elapsed time at 212.23 miles per hour. If the run holds, it will be his fifteenth No. 1 of the season.

Edwards isn’t about to count his chickens before they hatch, however.

“You always want to get down the track and get some information,” said Edwards. “Hopefully we can tune off of that and run better the rest of the week. It’s a good start and really when you look at it, one of four runs.”

'SLEDGEHAMMER' STRIKES EARLY IN PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE QUALIFYING - Adam might have been the first man on Earth. But in the Arana household in Southern Indiana, he's third in racing a Pro Stock Motorcycle in National Hot Rod Association competition.

His father, Hector Sr., has won a championship and won races. Brother Hector has won races, led the points, and won the Road to the Future Award for the sport's top rookie -- the honor Adam has been in contention for this year.

"My dad has his hat," Adam Arana said, referring to the white Panama trademark his father wears when he doesn’t have a helmet strapped on his head.

"Hector's 'The Third.' I've got to find something to make myself unique," the youngest racing Arana said.

He did Thursday.

He ended the first of four qualifying sessions as the quickest and fastest in the class on the quarter-mile at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona at the season-ending race.

Arana cranked out a 6.888-second elapsed time at 195.28 mph in his ProtectThe Harvest.com / MAVTV Buell in bidding for his second chance to lead the field. He was No. 1 in July at Denver.

Adam Arana edged brother Hector, who's tentatively No. 2 aboard the Lucas Oil Buell with a 6.892, 194.55.

It was a well-needed boost for Arana, who was runner-up to John Hall in his only final-round appearance, in June at Epping, N.H., but said he feels like he hasn't done anything significant since then.

"We lost a crew member right after Sonoma, and that really hurt us, hurt the rhythm," Arana said. "I kind of lost a little bit of confidence. And it shows, because I've been not doing my job very well on Sunday."

He said his portion of the three-bike team from Milltown, Ind., is "clicking better" as they have slipped into a comfortable routine.

"I think it showed in qualifying," he said.

"We just went off of Las Vegas. Hector's No. 2 with an 89 (6.892-second E.T.)," he said. "So we're both consistent and going after it, that No. 1. I got it today. The rest of the weekend he might be able to [catch] me if had a better 60-foot [time].

"I had a fuel leak going down the racetrack. My bike leaned out. So I'm definitely looking to improve for tomorrow's session," Arana said.

He said, "The momentum would be nice heading into next year," but he said he already has an agenda for the off-season.

"For me, it's all mental. I definitely need to do some work over the winter," Arana said. "I think I might get some crappy car and do some bracket racing down home, analyze the pressure. And I need to work on a routine."

With no previous racing experience and only his goofing-around-on dirt bike for comparison, Arana said, he was "on a bike for a total of four months before I went to my first race. From May to August I practiced. A week before the Gainesville Nationals (the bike-season-opening Gatornationals at Gainesville, Fla.), that's when I practiced again. So from August to the last week in February, I had no practice. Before that, I had two full passes."

He said his father "sat me on the bike and said, 'OK, Dude. Dry hop.'  "

Racing a Pro Stock bike "is not easy," he said "The first time it shocked me, and I only hooked up for about two or three foot. I didn't know what to expect." Shifting into second gear -- something so routine now, eight months later -- was a foreign and, frankly, frightening experience.

"Since then," he said, "the adrenaline's going and it's exciting and you want to progress even more. And you want to get faster and faster. So I'm happy with the progress I've made, doing this for a little over a year and a half."

Hector Arana Sr. is one of the surprising racers not qualified yet for the field of 16. He's 22nd among the 23 entrants.

His dad has acquired the nickname "Hector The Hammer." Brother ended up with "The Mallet." Adam Arana said maybe his nickname should be "The Sledgehammer." His reasoning? "I'm the biggest one. Dad's 5-(foot)-7. My brother's 5-9. I'm six foot."

So size matters? In drag racing, just the E.T. matters, and Adam Arana had the best one Thursday.